Biographical Sketches of My Family

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Charles J. Janson

Charles J. Janson (1820 - 1879)

Charles J. Janson, born Carl Johan Jönsson, an emigrant from Arvika Sweden who established successful businesses in San Francisco and New York during the 19th century and became a mulimillionaire. He was one of the early settlers in San Francisco, arriving there in October of 1849. He married Theresia Lovisa Sundblad in 1859 and raised 7 children.

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Rufino Maria Añorga Lecuna

Rufino Maria Añorga Lecuna (1842 - 1905)

My great grandfather was born on 08 May 1842 in Hernani, Guipuzcoa, Pais Vasco, Spain. This is the Basque County just south of the French border. Family oral tradition states that as a young man he had an argument with his father and left home, walking from Hernani to the small village of Agüero located in the Santander Province of Cantabria. It was here that he met his future wife, Angela Guerra Teja. This grainy photograph is the only picture of him known to exist.

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John Holston

John Holston (~1791/4 - 1849)

John Holston was described by descendants as an itinerant circuit rider baptist preacher. His year and place of birth and death can only be estimated. He was also a farmer who moved from Virginia to Kentucky to Illinois and on to Indiana where he died. He and his wife, Nancy Bailey would have nine children during their lifetime.

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Hermann Albert

Hermann Albert (1858 - 1945)

Hermann Albert was an immigrant from Germany who met his wife, Fransiska Hoffman in New York and later moved to San Francisco where they were married in 1894. They raised a family there, survived the earthquake and fire of 1906 and lived the remainder of their lives in the City by the Bay.

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Jonathan Stanley

Jonathan Stanley (abt. 1800 - 1830-1836)

Jonathan Stanley was a farmer who lived in Franklin County Virgina. After his marriage to Nancy Martin he moved his young family to Rhea County Tennessee in the 1820s. This paper includes information about the lives of his descendants as well as research into the present day location of land grants that were received by him in 1825 and 1826.

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Antonio Leonetti

Antonio Leonetti (1820 - 1879)

Antonio Leonetti was born in Calabria Italy, emigrated to the United States in 1883 and started a fruit store in San Francisco. In 1899 He married Maria Wilhelmina Winkler who was born in Germany. Antonio raised his children by himself after his wife died in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

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Henry Maurice Lindskog

Henry Maurice Lindskog (1850 - 1902)

Henry Lindskog, born Henrik Gustav Mauritz Lindskog, an emigrant from Sweden who arrived in San Francisco later in the century and married Lovisa Wilhelmina Sofia Augusta Janson, one of the daughters of Charles Janson.

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Christian Freiley

Christian Freiley (1759 - 1810)

Christian Freiley was a blacksmith and farmer from Pennsylvania who moved to Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky searching for richer farm land and a better life for his family. He was also my 4th great grandfather.

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John D. Doughty

John D Doughty (1825 - 1893)

As I was researching the life of my children's great-great grandfather, Henry Lindskog who lived in San Francisco during the latter half of the 19th century, I found that he was married in the New Jerusalem Church and at least two of his four children were baptized there as well. I became increasingly more interested in this church, also known as the Swedenborgian church, its philosophy, and in particular, the fascinating character, John Doughty who became its first minister in San Francisco.

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